Once Upon a Valentine
by Ioe
Summary: When did you manage to get yourself to believe this lie? Post RE5


Story is told in Chris Redfield's Point of View

"Words out loud."

'Thoughts.'

Descriptive Text that doesn't occur completely in thought or words.

_Flashback_

Disclaimer: I don't own Resident Evil.

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><p><strong>Once Upon a Valentine<strong>

I made my way out the rear exit of the North American B.S.A.A. Headquarters into an alley. The chilling wind and snow flurries whipped through the doorway as I stepped through. My hand still ached from the punishment it had delivered upon Josh, and the December night air cut like a knife. 'Setting that up...he's lucky that's all he got.' I didn't care anymore, I just had to get away from here.

Placing my hands in my jacket, I began to trot down the powdered alleyway. My thoughts began to wander until I caught sound of the cast iron door behind me reopening. For a moment I was expecting it to be Josh, coming after me for round two. "Chris!" I stopped in my tracks and stared at the ground, downcast. I knew that voice, and glancing back at her revealed a face concern. Definitely something I can't deal with. I needed to be alone. "Just go back inside Sheva..."

She gingerly approached me, just close enough to make her voice heard over the whipping flurries. "Where are you going to go if I just let you leave?" she said in a quiet but smooth tone. I winced and was silent for a time. Standing in the alleyway, I suddenly became aware of just how cold this particular night was.

Then I felt it, mind numbing pain. It was like my head was about to split in half, and I fell...

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><p><em>Leisurely carrying my haul, spotting my partner "Wow this snowstorm sure is fierce huh? I found blankets upstairs! Good thing we found a place like this." I quipped, every breath clearly visible. Sitting down in a large chair beside her, I noticed she had resigned herself to the floor with her knees pulled to chest.<br>_

_Staring into the barren fireplace before us "Not exactly cozy…" Her response was quiet. Furthermore, she made no attempt to reciprocate my enthusiasm. That definitely wasn't normal; she must have been more drained than I originally thought. Attempting to renew her determination I answered "Yeah well, who would've thought a mansion would be built in the middle of the Arctic! We're lucky we found it or we'd probably be dead by now. We sure have a knack for stumbling into mansions when faced with life threatening situations." Giving a friendly laugh to lighten the mood.  
><em>

_It must have worked, because a small smirk chanced it's way onto her face. "Yeah we're definitely not the luckiest people in the world…or the warmest." I felt the energy return to her voice as she began to analyze what I was holding. Lifting an arm in my direction, I caught her drift and tossed a blanket to her.  
><em>

_Bringing it up to her body, she paused. She must have noticed their odd odor, or how cold they were, but proceeded to wrap herself in it anyway. We sat in silence for a time trying to think of a course of action before I noticed the shade of her lips was beginning to change. "Look, I'll…go look for something to get this fireplace going. Don't worry I'll come back as fast as I can. Just stay here and sit tight." Lifting myself from my seat, I grabbed the second blanket, and wrapped it around her as well.  
><em>

_No movement but rather an "Mm…" and whether she was responding to the slight comfort the extra blanket gave her, or what I'd said, I don't know. Her eyes were unfocused and she had an overall detached demeanor. 'What was wrong with her all of a sudden…I mean aside from beginning to freeze to death I thought she was getting better.' I couldn't waste any time thinking about it, so opted to head out in search of materials.  
><em>

_'We've been through worse than this, we'll be fine.' Just keep thinking that, I told myself. Heading through this oddly fashioned mansion...for some reason the architecture reminded me of Spencer's taste, old and tacky. I walked through the dining room of the first floor, until I came upon a stairwell leading to a door. It sure resembled the entrance of a certain basement to me... 'Man what is up with this place and bringing back bad memories…' I gripped the icy handle and pushed, but the door didn't budge._

_I pushed harder, nothing. 'Crap frozen shut…' Building up my momentum by pulling back, I rammed the door a few times with all my strength. My shoulder hurt and the door remained stationary. 'Wonderful.' I thought. Suddenly memories flashed though my head of the mansion hidden away in the Arklay Mountains. I paused for a few seconds, blinked, turned the knob, and pulled. The door came open easily._

_"Stupid…" I fumbled with the light on my vest. Naturally the damn thing was frozen and completely useless, so I stepped into the basement without any extra light. The glimmer from the stairs made a small portion of the basement visible if I squinted, but any further than that registered nothing to my eyes. Walking forward into the darkness, I heard a noise...from the stairs?_

_Memories triggered an instant reaction as I caught sight of something dart into the room with me. I drew my Beretta from its holster and flipped the safety off, proceeding to point it in different directions every so often in fluent, trained, precise movements. Ready for anything, whatever B.O.W. just decided to come after me was about to get a horrible wake up call. More sounds... 'More than one?' I shifted, the sounds were coming from all around me. 'This is dangerous, get back to the stairs.' my instincts were screaming at me that this was too much to handle, but there was no opening. If I moved whatever was just feet away from me would spring on me. My only hope was that I could get off good killing shots before they managed to get me. I stood there for what seemed like an eternity, poised, waiting in anticipation. Finally, the source of the noise revealed itself. A rat scuffled across the floor, looked at me, and then made its way along the wall into the darkness on the other side of the large dank hellhole._

_I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding, and relaxed my position. I looked at my shadow on the floor, and felt a chill down my spine. There was another shadow beside mine. Suddenly something collided with me from behind, causing me to trip over a stack of what felt like wood. 'Great, if I live I found what I came for.' I thought sarcastically. Quickly recovering with that thought, I flipped back onto my feet, and put distance between myself and whatever had the nerve to run into Chris Redfield. Aiming down the sights of my Beretta, I realized the offender I was flagging was none other than my partner. I immediately turned on my safety and lowered my weapon._

_Returning my gun to it's holster and walking up to her, she seemed to be wheezing painfully. "Gosh, you scared me, I thought I told you to…" A small hint of light from the stairwell glinted off the eyes of the woman in question, they were devoid of any pupils or irises '…back off, this definitely isn't your partner!' It isn't just my instinct that realized that. My conscious mind was in denial of knowing exactly what that was. It's exactly what I wish it wasn't, and I'd realized it too late. I'd been too careless._

_In a snarl the creature lashed out at me. Crashing into me at full force, it latched onto my shoulders and knocked me onto my back. My breath evacuated my lungs as fast as possible from the impact. It was strong, and I was caught off guard. Using the opportunity to close the distance between it's teeth and my neck with a fiery determination, they were just centimeters away. I grunted, my muscles were already burning from exertion. I was no match for it's virus enhanced strength, and I thought many times that I was a goner. Avoiding it's snapping, I desperately landed a punch which surprisingly set it off balance long enough for me to turn the tide of the battle. Wrestling atop it, I placed one hand around it's neck to hold it down. It clawed at my sleeves as I fumbled at my vest with my opposite hand. If those sleeves weren't there I would've been infected._

_Detaching my knife from its sheath in a reverse grip, I jammed it into the beast's stomach. It let out a guttural cry, among other noises I couldn't decipher. Blood and bile bubbled up its throat as it sputtered and coughed. I repeatedly stabbed it in the ribs and abdomen as it continued to whip it's arms at my face. Fresh blood spilled from the wounds, but I didn't stop until I was sure it was dead. I sat there for a few moments with the blade resting in the monster's heart. It now lay limp and unresponsive. _

_I sighed in relief, taking in a few deep heaves of air. I retrieved my knife from its corpse, and as I made a move toward the stairwell I recalled the firewood that I was knocked over. "Bingo…" Smirking, mission accomplished.  
><em>

_"Hey, found firewood." I strolled into the lounge with both arms full. Judging by the state I had left her in, I was quite surprised to see she had abandoned the blankets. Seems she opted to take up residence in my beloved chair instead. Her response was dreary "Great, well done." crossing her legs and giving me an unsatisfied grimace. "Oh come on now don't be that way…" I said as I piled the wood into the fireplace. "Look, now we'll have a fire. I've got my lucky lighter and flint. We'll defrost our radio and send out a distress call on loop, piece of cake!"_

_Nothing. Didn't bother responding that time. "Come on cheer up will you? Everything is gonna be fine, we're gonna get outta here." Not a peep, she must really be angry for some reason. Glancing back after I got the fire going "Jill?" Her eyes were closed. I walked over and shook her a little and she fell to her side. "H-Hey, come on, what's wrong? Hey!" I checked her pulse...nothing. "Come on wake up this isn't funny, say something, anything!" I was starting to panic. I picked up her limp body and laid her down by the fireplace and did my best to warm her up. After a few minutes by some miracle, suddenly her eyes lazily slid back open..._

_She cradled her arms around my neck and stared into my eyes. "You just can't seem to let me rest can you, Chris?" Her expression was very exotic, my heart skipped a beat and I stuttered out a response "Well, I was just worried about you. I-It's dangerous to fall asleep the way we are now. No sleeping until we warm up first okay?" I felt soft lips come smoothly into contact with mine, and I remained still, stunned. Before I could react she pulled away and gave me a knowledgeable look._

_Placing her hand on my chest, she pushed me away. "That's payment. Keep the fire going and let me rest for now alright?" Asking for leniency like that, what else could I possibly say? Nodding with a "Yes Ma'am" I sat down beside the chair I'd recently been dethroned from to start fiddling with our radio._

_She took up residence upon her throne, nonetheless, I couldn't help but smile._

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><p>I regain my bearings, and Sheva is knelt down beside me. She must've been checking if I was okay. That's fine, but my head doesn't hurt anymore. This always happens before... "I can't let go Sheva." I said flatly. Her face hardened. "Can't or won't?" Becoming more demanding this time.<p>

I released a long exhale. I can't deal with this now. Why couldn't she understand? "Both…" Standing back up, I intended to take my leave. Placing my hands in my winter coat "I'm done with this conversation." I stated as I turned away from her.

"Well I'm not!" She pursued me. "What's wrong with you Chris? You're scaring us. We're just worried for you." Strutting along beside me, annoying. "It's okay to regret our mistakes, Chris, but you're becoming obsessed with it!" I tightened my jaw, can't she just stop talking to me? "You're only hurting the people closest to you! What about your sister? We let your behavior slide before, thinking you'd come out of it in time…but now you've convinced yourself you're talking to her?" Almost out of this alley, and I can be away from her...

"Chris, look at me! How long have you been like this?" 'Why does she have to shout so much? Jill, surely you agree with me right? She's overreacting…' She grabbed my shoulder. "Answer me Chris! When did you manage to get yourself to believe this lie? That you didn't-"

'Enough.'

"I never asked for any of you to give a damn!" I spun on my heels and faced her. She yanked her hand away like it had been burned. "Chris-" She tried to back away, but I grabbed her arms and lifted her off the ground. Slamming her against the building, but keeping her suspended off the ground, I shouted. "I don't need you! I don't need the B.S.A.A.! I never asked anyone to bend the law for me! Why can't you just leave u s alone?" I shouted at the top of my lungs, my blind rage chilled the ice in my eyes as they bore into hers.

Sheva struggled in my grip. "C-Chris please stop you're hurting me!" A heartbeat...my eyes went wide. I shook my head but the images passing through my mind wouldn't fade. I was met with a knee to the groin, which was unsurprisingly painful. I released her and she fell to the ground, crawling sideways through the snow away from me. I barely managed to keep myself up on one knee. I coughed, trying to catch my breath in the subzero temperatures.

The pain in my head came back with a vengeance. "Jill I'm sorry…I'm so sor-" The images fading, I looked up to not Jill, but Sheva staggering to her feet before my eyes. "Us? Chris you said…what the hell happened to you?" She wasted no time making her way to the door, giving me one last glance before going back inside. I tried to fight through the pain to get her attention. "Sheva wait...dammit!" I punched the ground as hard as I could, luckily the snow managed to cushion my knuckles a little. Then just as suddenly as it came, the pain receded to a familiar buzzing.

"You alright? Come on Redfield, on your feet. There's nothing you need to apologize to me for." I saw a gloved hand extended to me, and followed it to the face of its owner. "Yeah of course, I'm fine. Good timing by the way." I gave her a grin as I took her hand and she helped pull me to my feet.

"What can I say? I just finished my rounds and I've got you clocked down to the second. You're so predictable. You got into a tussle with Josh over me, so you used the rear exit instead of the front. Now you're too embarrassed to face everyone, and even had an argument with Sheva. I'll help you smooth it over in the morning, let's go home?" She questioned, hooking her arms onto my own with a raised eyebrow.

"I...I just wish that I didn't feel like there was something I missed." I've never felt so lost in my life, looking into her eyes it felt like there was something missing. "What are you going on about? Do I have to knock you to your senses? You know I don't like the cold, let's go!" She shot a mock pouting face with a fat bottom lip in my direction.

"Yeah, Jill…let's go home."

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><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>

I hope you enjoyed the story, if anyone was able to understand what occurred anyway. (I tried to make the hints obvious, but not too obvious...so eh) xD

This was originally going to be a chapter by chapter idea...but I got tired because I've been up all night so instead I put together a short version. :(

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><p><strong>3008/13:** I haven't written in a really long time. So to get back into it I thought it would be a good idea to re-write one of my old stories in the new style I'm used to writing in now! Thought about it a lot, and I thought it best to just re-write something I'd already submitted on the site. I was really tired near the end I may have gotten sloppy. (forgive me D: )

**!30/08/13 STORY SPOILER!**

Well I figured it's been long enough yeah?

Chris and Jill get assigned to a mission in the Arctic, things go south (hah) and they end up taking up refuge in a mansion built out in the boonies. Chris unintentionally turns Ms. Valentine into a Nom nom Zombie by passing off blankets laced with the T-Virus. NomJill hunts Chris down in the basement, and he pokes her to death with his giant machete knife thingy. In the short time dealing with the blankets they managed to infect Chris, but mutated, and attacked his body on a mental capacity. ChrisBrain goes AWOL-(new character separate from Chris now, hehe) and from the basement scene onward the virus invents a fake Jill in his head. Proceeds to have conversations, and manipulate him, whenever it gets the chance. People start noticing him turning into a nutcase after the B.S.A.A. gets him an acquittal on his charges of murder. He's having head pains in present time because the virus in his head cannot adapt to cold after it mutated, and is reciprocating it's pain onto him. The hallucination created by the virus presses it's hate for the cold onto Chris by emotionally showing it's general displeasure or sour mood when he's somewhere cold. When fake Jill was unconscious, the virus was too cold and going into a passive state. And...yeah...lots of other stuff, all according to plan...and stuff. I EXPLAINED IT BE NOT CONFUZZED! *goes to sleep*

Crazy Town - Butterfly

:D


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